I believe Out of the London Mist may be the first steampunk novel I’ve read. The book was purchased for review by Rosie’s Book Review Team.
The story opens with the visit of John Farnley to the East End of London to the shop of a metal worker who has frequently made parts for Farnley’s aether-powered plane. The shop was the last place John’s brother, Sir Nicholas Farnley, visited before being killed in a nearby street. This area of London was one which Sir Nicholas would never visit, and John is determined to trace his last steps and find his murderer.
John is faced with now being a nobleman, Sir John Farnley, and all that entails, plus having to sort out family business and holdings, which entail the mining of aether crystals, a source of power in Victorian England. He must also comfort his sister-in-law, who was a decorative wife to his brother but proves to be a competent household manager of the little-used London home.
A dense London fog is blanketing London, and it becomes a character unto itself, well drawn by the author. She also creates the world of the East End slums, a deadly place where life is cheap and people walking alone are preyed upon.
John discovers that his brother was helping the father of the metal worker, a rabbi involved in creating something monstrous which now lurks in the mist-shrouded corners of the East End. People are dying from being beaten with inhuman force, and John suspects his brother was one of the victims. Aiding him in his investigation is the resourceful Miss Sylvia Armley, brave and fearless. John has an intimate understanding of the aether lines that flow above London and of the advantages and disadvantages of using aether crystals as a power source, and he is helped to understand why his brother was collaborating with the rabbi by the erudite advice of Professor Entwistle, a close friend of the rabbi.
Together with Miss Armley, John finds travels though the darkest part of London to determine exactly what his brother was doing and to stop the aether-powered monster that killed him. The ending was not at all what I expected, and I can see another book to follow this one.
The author does an excellent job limning her characters and creating a steampunk world. I enjoyed the detail and the dialogue moved crisply along. The most compelling aspect was the way in which she created the foggy world, at once opaque and frightening. The mystery compels you to read on. For my first adventure into steampunk, this book is a winner.
The author tells a good story, and I am going to download some of her other books.
About the author:
Lyssa Medana is a wife and mother Yorkshire, UK. She loves telling stories and feels privileged to be able to share them. She is fascinated by the odd, the quirky and the unusual and enjoys dipping in to old folklore and English social history, which she shamelessly uses for her writing. Her hobbies include knitting, reading and heckling history documentaries.
Lyssa is the author of a number of other books, among them The Forgotten Village, Digging Up the Past, Tales from the White Hart, and Dinner at Dark.
You can find her on
Twitter: @LMedana
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LMedana/
And on her blog: https://alwaysanotherchapter.co.uk/
Out of the London Mist can be found on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089DHTDDG/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
This is an interesting sounding book, Noelle.
It kept my attention, Robbie!
I had a phase of reading a lot of steampunk, and enjoyed it. But several are set in London, and some are aimed at real London rather than fictional notion of it. And the real ones set me off on a rant…
I had to look up the characteristics of steampunk, Jemima, and it seems Victorian London is the main setting. This London was not modern and the descriptions were fictional but seemed very real!
This sounds like an intriguing book. I love the time period and the setting (Victorian London), although I’m more apt to read fiction set in the real London of that time, rather than steampunk. Still, I could see myself enjoying this story!
I think you would, especially the alien aspects, MC!
Ooo, aliens?!?! Yep, that speaks to me for certain, LOL!
Hint: it’s a clay golum
Thank you Noelle.
I haven’t read any steampunk either, but this sounds interesting, Noelle. Sharing!
Thanks, Bette.
I really enjoyed this book but some of the best steampunk novels like Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve and The Viper and the Urchin by Celine Jeanjean create their own world nowhere near Victorian London.
Thanks for letting the newbie know!
That’s only my opinion. I may be wrong!
The first time I heard about Steampunk was through Diana Peach at Myths of the Mirror. She gave a prompt and many people wrote Steampunk stories, which I thought were neat. So you have written a great review that makes me want to try Out of the London Mist.
Great review, Noelle. Congrats to Lyssa. Hugs!
Thanks, Teagan!
Thank you!
You’re welcome, Lyssa. I need to post on Amazon and Good Reads, but a move out of the house we’ve lived in for 35 years has really eaten my my energy and time!